France's Kouchner says Georgia made "major errors"

PARIS (Reuters) - Georgia made serious miscalculations in the crisis with Russia but Moscow's reaction was disproportionate, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said in a newspaper interview due to appear on Sunday.

"There were major errors of judgment on the part of the Georgians and an obviously disproportionate response on the part of the Russians," Kouchner told the weekly Journal du Dimanche in an interview released ahead of publication.

However he avoided apportioning blame for the outbreak of hostilities in which Georgian forces sent into the Russian-backed breakaway region of South Ossetia were driven back by Russian tanks which moved deep into Georgian territory.

"Journalists should investigate and historians should make a judgment but it is not yet time to write history," he said, adding: "To talk about the Cold War would really be facile."

France, which brokered a peace deal signed by both Georgia and Russia, has adopted a more cautious tone than that taken by the United States or European Union partners like Britain or Poland.

The French position appeared close to that of Germany, whose Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Friday that some of Russia's actions were "not proportionate" but that "both sides are probably to blame" for the conflict.

Poland, long suspicious of Russian foreign policy, has denounced Moscow and been particularly critical of the French-backed approach which President Lech Kaczynski described on Saturday as too soft.

Warsaw agreed this week to host elements of a U.S. anti-missile system, prompting a senior Russian general to declare that Poland could become a military target as a result.

Kouchner said Europe needed to maintain contact with Russia and he expressed some understanding for the Russian position.

"Poland is a sovereign country. But it has to be understood that this sparks criticism and fears on the part of Russia. The Americans tell us that the Russians are not the target. We take note of that," he said.

"We have to invent a new language with regard to Russia. That is what the European Union is trying to do."

He said he hoped the United Nations would pass a resolution authorizing an international peacekeeping force, but said it would be a few weeks at the minimum before it could be in place.

(Reporting by James Mackenzie, editing by Mark Trevelyan)